Mines & Quarries

Agenda Item No: 13 Report To: Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee Date: 30 August 2011 Report By: Corporate Director Education & Communities Report No: SCS/69/11/AH/DH Contact Officer: Drew Hall Contact No: 714272 Subject: Council’s Duties Under Mines & Quarries Act 1954 1.0 PURPOSE 1.1 To advise Committee on work undertaken by Officers from Safer and Inclusive Communities to implement the Council’s statutory powers in respect of Section 151 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954. 2.0 SUMMARY 2.1 The Mines and Quarries Act 1954, requires that the owners of every mine or quarry which operated after 1872 but has not been worked in the last 12 months, to secure every surface entrance to prevent any person from accidentally falling down the shaft or accidentally entering the mine or quarry. 2.2 The Act, gives the Council powers to use the Statutory Nuisance provisions in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to require owners found to be in breach the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 to undertake works to ensure the safety of the public, and, if necessary, to carry out those works in default and recover the costs from the owner. The Council has a duty to cause their area to be inspected from time to time to detect any Statutory Nuisances 2.3 Officers from Safer & Inclusive Communities have been active in this area. A study has been completed to identify locations, land owners have been advised of their responsibilities and a regular programme of inspections has been established. 2.4 Currently there are no locations of major concern. Inverclyde is fortunate in having relatively few sites covered by the Act, particularly in comparison to former coalfield areas, some of which may have sites running into the thousands, many poorly mapped or recorded. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 That the committee note the terms of the report and the action taken, and proposed, to comply with our statutory duties. Albert Henderson Corporate Director Education & Communities 4.0 BACKGROUND 4.1 Section 151 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, as amended, requires that the owners of every mine or quarry which operated after 1872 but has not been worked in the last 12 months, to secure every surface entrance to prevent any person from accidentally falling down the shaft or accidentally entering the mine. In respect of quarries, whether being worked or not, properly maintained safety barriers are required where the quarry may constitute a danger to the public by virtue of its accessibility from a road or being a place where the public resort. 4.2 Members will be aware of the well published fatality in East Ayrshire where a woman fell down an unidentified mine shaft while out walking her dog. 4.3 The Mines and Quarries Act 1954, as amended, permits the Council to use the Statutory Nuisance provisions in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to require owners found to be in breach of Section 151 of the Act to undertake works to ensure the safety of the public, and, if necessary, to carry out those works in default and recover the costs from the owner 4.4 The Council has a duty under section 79 Environmental Protection Act 1990 to cause their area to be inspected from time to time to detect any Statutory Nuisances. 5.0 Action Taken 5.1 Officers from Safer & Inclusive Communities have undertaken an extensive desktop exercise to identify locations covered by this legal provision and have also carried out a series of field visits to inspect all relevant sites. A report on this exercise is in Appendix 1. 5.2 Officers have chaired a number of meetings with site owners, including appropriate Council services, to advise of the survey findings and clarify their legal duties as the current owners, and have put in place a programme of regular inspections of the areas in question to ensure ongoing compliance with the Act. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Strategic There are no strategic implications arising from this report. 6.2 Financial There are no additional financial implications arising from this duty at this time. There will be some ongoing costs to the Council as a property owner in maintaining sites in a safe condition; however these would have arisen in any case. 6.3 Legal The Council has a duty consider and deal with safety issues surrounded abandoned mines and quarries. 6.4 Equalities There are no implications arising from our equalities duties under this report. 7.0 LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS 7.1 Investigation and hazard assessment of abandoned mines and quarries ( Appendix 1) Safer and Inclusive Communities Investigation and hazard assessment of abandoned mines and quarries Inverclyde September 2010 Site Name Inverclyde Council Area LQR Reference Document Title Investigation and hazard assessment of abandoned mines and quarries (within Inverclyde) Description Review of historical and environmental information held 010/0013/LQR by Inverclyde Council for the identification of abandoned mineral extraction workings. Preliminary hazard assessment of identified sites. Revision Date Draft 1 24.07.10 Roslyn McIntosh Prepared by Contaminated Land Officer Draft 2 20.08.10 Final 23.09.10 Jim Blair/Janet Stitt Checked by Public Health and Housing Team Leader Drew Hall Approved by Community Safety and Wellbeing Service Manager Safer and Inclusive Communities Safer and Inclusive Communities – Environmental Health 40 West Stewart Street, Greenock, Inverclyde, PA15 1YA. T: +44 (0)475 714200 Safer and Inclusive Communities Environmental Health CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 1.1. Methodology ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Limitations ......................................................................................................... 2 2 INVERCLYDE AREA ................................................................................ 4 2.1. Location ............................................................................................................. 4 2.2. Geology .............................................................................................................. 4 2.2.1. Superficial Deposits ............................................................................................ 4 2.2.2. Anthropogenic Deposits ...................................................................................... 5 2.2.3. Bedrock ............................................................................................................... 5 2.3. Mineral Extraction ............................................................................................. 6 3 COPPER MINING AND QUARRYING ........................................................... 7 3.1. Literature Review .............................................................................................. 7 3.1.1. Review of Mineral Valuers Report ...................................................................... 7 3.1.2. Lead, Copper and Nickel Ores of Scotland ........................................................ 7 3.1.3. Undated geologist’s field slip .............................................................................. 7 3.1.4. Old Gourock (Twaddle, 1999) ............................................................................. 8 3.2. Drumshantie Gourock ...................................................................................... 8 3.2.1. Field Reconnaissance - 21st June 2010 ............................................................ 9 3.3. Larkfield, Gourock ............................................................................................ 9 3.3.1. Field Reconnaissance - 21st June 2010 ............................................................ 9 4 BARYTES MINING AND QUARRYING ....................................................... 11 4.1. Consultation with Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park ....................................... 12 4.2. Muirshiels Barytes .......................................................................................... 12 4.2.1. British Geological Survey (MacGregor, 1944) .................................................. 13 4.3. Laird’s Seat Barytes ........................................................................................ 14 4.3.1. Field Reconnaissance - 15th July 2010 ........................................................... 14 5 QUARRYING FOR AGGREGATE AND BUILDING MATERIALS ...................... 15 INVERCLYDE COUNCIL i Safer and Inclusive Communities Environmental Health 6 SHAFTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE ......................... 16 6.1. Shafts for the Construction of Railway Tunnels .......................................... 16 6.2. Shafts for the Construction of Water Supply Culverts ................................ 16 7 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................... 20 8 REFERENCES ...................................................................................... 22 FIGURES Figure 1 Inverclyde Area and Wards Figure 2 Geology: Superficial Deposits and Features Figure 3 Geology: Bedrock and Faulting Figure 4 Copper Mineral Extraction Sites Figure 5 Drumshantie Copper Mine Plan Figure 6 Queenside Hill Barytes Mineral Extraction Figure 7 Lairds Seat Barytes Mineral Extraction Figure 8 Quarrying Activities across Inverclyde Figure 9 Air Shafts (Water Culverts) Figure 10 Map of Mine and Quarry Hazards APPENDICES Appendix A Relevant Legislation Extracts Appendix B Drumshantie Copper Workings - Field Reconnaissance

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